10/17/2022 football Edit

Rutgers' QB room is all available, but will they still rotate?

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Rutgers redshirt freshman quarterbck Gavin Wimsatt has been out since sustaining a lower body injury in the third game of the season at Temple.

He's been seen in a boot at times, but has also dressed and warmed up since then.

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Head coach Greg Schiano, though, said Monday in his weekly press conference that Wimsatt practiced last week during the Scarlet Knights' bye week and will be available in Rutgers' home game at noon against Indiana this Saturday.

"Gavin is doing better," Schiano said. "He practiced last week, made some strides. So he's handled it well. I mean, he's disappointed that he was injured and couldn't compete. But it's good to have him back."

All three of the main Rutgers quarterbacks have a chance to start and play against the Hoosiers. Noah Vedral, who has technically started the last two games, is good to go again and so his Evan Simon, who started against Iowa and has seen the most snaps thus far this year. Vedral has been dealing with a hand injury, too.

"I think we're going to have all three quarterbacks at our disposal," Schiano said. "I think Gavin improved quite a bit. He practiced last week. Noah's hand is getting stronger by the day. It's not all the way back, but it's getting there. And Evan, although a little bruised up from playing a couple games, I think last week served him well to heal up. So I think we'll have our full quarterback pool."

Throughout the year, both Simon and Wimsatt have rotated back and forth. Sometimes they came in and out after a player or a series. Tight end Johnny Langan has also taken wildcat snaps as has the likes of running back Kyle Monangai and wide receiver Josh Youngblood.

With offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson now done after he was fired after the loss to Nebraska, Schiano did not shoot down if a rotation of the QBs between Vedral, Wimsatt, and Simon is done with.

"Well, whatever -- it's the same every week. Whatever it takes to win the game," Schiano said. "And, certainly, I don't claim to have all the answers. So sometimes what we think is the best thing to win the game may not be. But we spend 18 hours a day trying to figure that out. And we're going to do whatever it takes. So we'll see."

Nunzio Campanile is now in charge of calling the plays on offense and he has added his own wrinkles to that side of the ball. Campanile is both the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Joe Susan moved to coach the tight ends where Campanile was previously.

"I think there's been real good energy," Schiano said. "Guys have worked hard to adjust to some of the tweaks that we've made. Again, the energy has been great. And that's really what I can judge right now. We'll see how that all adds up on game day. But they've worked very hard. Some guys that otherwise probably would have got a little more rest worked because there were some things that they had to get accustomed to. But overall, I think it's gone pretty well."

There's only so much a team can switch up when they make a change of this magnitude during the season. The bye week most likely played a role into moving Campanile in and Gleeson out.

"It's been a huge area of conversation over the last seven days. Exactly what you say. You start going down that rabbit hole, and there's a lot of things you might want to do," Schiano said. "But it's one thing saying it. It's another thing doing it. And without repetition -- football is a game of repetition, so you have to be really careful. You try to do as much same as, you know, or very similar to. And then they can kind of connect the two things. But, again, we need to get the offensive unit playing as a unit and more precise. And I think we can make some hay by doing those two things."